Sectional electrode for electric furnaces.



No. 881,520. PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908,

c. B. WILSON.

SEGTIONAL ELECTRODE FOR ELECTRIC FURNAGBS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-15. 1906.

fiw enl ar Ill/II/lI/IIIII/IIIIIIII/IIIII/I v Q !IIMI III/IIIIIII/ CHARLES E WILSON, OF FERRIS, WEST VIRGINIA.

SECTIONAL ELECTRODE FOR ELECTRIC FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 10, 1908 Application filed September 15, 1906. Serial No. 334,752.

To all whom it may (O'lit'tii'i'ff Be it lmownthat l, CHARLES E. .Yirsox, a citizen of the lgritcd States, residing at Fcrris, in the county of Fayette and State of Wcst Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sectional Electrodes for Electric l urnaces, of which the billowing is a 1;

sp ecitication.

1*lectrlc-lurmice electrodes are as a rule bcing,what1-thenanie literally implies, a compact and tough material which, even when formed into large and heavy pieces, may be freely shipped. and handled with comparativel little danger of injury thereto, while the after is an impure amorphous carbon, comparatively brittle and requiring great care in the handling to prevent fracture. (rraphite electrodes are quite commonly provided in blocks of large dimensions having threaded projections and soc'. ets for their attachment one to another. Carbon electrodes, on the contrary, cannot be safely handled, if in large blocks, and threading thereof is considered impractical. Graphite is much. more expensive to produce than the impure amorphous carbon, and though graphite electrodes are the more durable in a furnace, this fact alone would not, in the majority of cases, compensate for the difference in price were it not for the danger of breakage in the handling of large. carbon electrodes.

My object is to lessen the danger of injury in. the shipment and handling of carbon electrodes for electric furnaces, by providing the.

electrodes in'l' mparativcly short interlocking sections of improved construction, each section be ng formed of longitudimilly ex t nding members which may be readily fitted and secu ed thereto.

ln "Hl \'lll, out; my invention each section coin ingof a plurality of loi'igitudmally extending members, is provided, in oppo site ends respectively, with a preferably dovetail projection and a preferably dove-tail groove or so ."ct,v wlnercby one section may be readily spliced to another; and I further provide bolt openings at the said splices, or joints, for the insertion of bolts of graphite, or other suitable carbonaceous material, which hold the sections firmly togetherv Referring to thc drawing-- Figure 1 shows my improved sectional electrode applied. to a crucible furnace of comnnm construction;

either graphite or carbon, the former i and Fig. 2, two halves of an eh-ictrode-section showing its construction.

ln the illustration, a crucible, 5, having a stationary earlnnmceous electrode, (3, in its base, rests upon a conductor-plate, 7, and is provided at lts upper end with a lltttlrlfititllb mg water-pic etcd cover, 20, which has a central opening tlu-ough it for the passage of the suspended, adjustable electrode, or carbon pencil, S, and for feeding the material to be smelted. The said pencil is connected at its upper end to a suspended, raising and lowering head, U. The head is connected by a lead-wire, ll), and the plate, 7, by a lead wire, 11. with the elcctric-curreiit supply. The electrmlescctions, 8, are each formed of 'two companion lengths of impure an'iorphous carbon, having smooth inner nu-acting faces, 12. Each member is provided at its upper end with half of a dove-tail tongue, 13, cmitaining a perforation, l4, and the. lower end of each member is formed with half of adove-tail socket, l5, and perforation, 16. When the two members are placed together 'at their meeting surfaces, 12, they form a complete electrode-scction with an. upper dove-tail tongue. and a lower dove-tail socket. In splicing two sections together, or to the. head, 9, the dove-tail tongue, 13, slipped into the dove-tail socfic 15, and the parts secured together by passing a. graphite bolt or pin, 17, threaded at opposite-ends, through the registering openings, lo, M, and then clamping theparts by means of graphite nuts, 18, applied to the bolt.

in practicewhen the lower section has become so worn away as to unduly shorten the electrode, the currentis shut. off and the upper section freed from the head J. A new section is then placed in the head and spliced to the upper end of the former upper section, in the manner described. may be'perforincd very quickly and conveniently.

"lhetonguc and grooved connection with the clamping-bolt forms a close joint; with intimateclcctrical contact between the inceting surfaces, thereby avoidingany danger of sparking between the connections. it is necessary that the bolts and their nuts shall be 'of carbonaceous material, preferably graphite. They may be formed as shown or in any other way to suit my purpose of; clamping the sections securely and in inti- -mate electrical contact at the joints. lit is The operation' usual, for many purposes, to provided pencil electrodes 12 inches or more in cross-section, rendering them heavy and unwieldy and necessitating great care in handling. By forming the sections of a plurality of separate longitudinal members arranged to fit closely together, the cost of manufacture is reduced, and they may be handled and transported with greater ease and less danger of injury.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. A pencil-electrode section for electric furnaces, formed of separate longitudinally extending members, fitting closely together at adjacent sides and provided at opposite ends with means for clamping the members together, and for securing the sections endwise to other sections.

2., A pencil electrode for electric furnaces, formed of a'plurality of end-wise engaging sections, each com rising a block of carbonaeeous material ormed of a plurality of separate longitudinal members fittin closely I together, each block being provided in one end with a dove-tail groove and a perforation and at its opposite end with a l tail tongue and a perforation, the tongue on one section fitting the groove in the adjacent section in a manner to cause the perforations i in their adjacent other, and a graphite bolt passing through i the said registering perforations.

3 CHARLES E, WILSON.

g In the presence of-- l H. M. Grnnns,

l T. R. RAGLAND.

dove-- ends to register with each 

